An 85-year-old man with no Maltese ancestry is the unlikely force behind a popular e-newsletter that keeps the Maltese community in North America connected. But with no successor in sight, the future of the publication hangs in the balance.
Dan Brock is an 85-year-old Canadian of Polish, Irish and English ancestry. He is also the editor of The Maltese Presence in North America, a monthly newsletter read by thousands.
Despite not being Maltese, Brock has spent the last six years compiling letters, stories and photos that help Maltese communities, often separated by geography and time, stay in touch.
Yet with the number of Maltese clubs in decline and younger people less involved, Brock has so far found no one to take over the project.
“I’m concerned that without the younger generations, i.e. individuals under 60, joining and taking an active part in the local Maltese clubs, these clubs will be forced to disband,” Brock said.
Ted Gauci, Loretta and Dan Brock, with Malta’s President George Vella, at the Liuna Station in Hamilton, Ontario, on May 27, 2023. Photo: Dan BrockAlthough he is not Maltese by heritage, Brock’s connection to the community began through his wife, Loretta, who is Maltese. He has since also become a dual Maltese citizen.
The couple joined the Maltese-Canadian Club of London in 2005. Brock eventually took on several roles in the organisation, including serving as the club’s newsletter editor.
When the London club closed its doors in 2018, Brock considered stepping aside. But instead, he chose to start another newsletter, this time with a wider scope that reached beyond Canada to include Maltese communities throughout North America.
“No one was coming forward to be the ‘glue’ to head this,” Brock said. “I then offered to serve as the ‘clearing house’ for keeping the group in touch via e-mails. This was all that was needed.”
Since then, The Maltese Presence in North America has become a reference point for members of the Maltese diaspora. A place to share community events, celebrate heritage and keep track of social clubs across Ontario, Detroit, New York, California and beyond. Each issue features letters from contributors, photographs of events like boċċi or fenkata nights, and updates on visits by Maltese dignitaries to local clubs.
The cover of the newsletterThe newsletter is now in its 73rd issue, having started in January 2019. It is read by a dedicated audience that includes older community members as well as younger readers.
“I know that the newsletter is read by some in their 20s. I have one in mind to hopefully continue the newsletter. He expressed an interest in so doing a few years ago,” Brock said.
However, unfortunately, when he recently tried to contact the person in mind, they did not respond, leaving him in the lurch.
Brock, a historian by background, believes his skills have helped him shape the newsletter into something meaningful.
The meet-up of the Toronto and Detroit community in 1945. Photo: Richard Cumbo Toronto“With my talents in the area of history, I could fill a gap in our community which no one else was occupying,” he said.
“I believe that God has given me a talent in this area and, in the absence of anyone else stepping forward to undertake the bringing of the Maltese of all North America somehow in touch with one another… it behoves me to step to the plate.”
He credits his inspiration to a man named Tony Vella, who he described as “the heart and soul of the London club”. One of Vella’s dreams was to reunite all the Maltese clubs in North America, something that once happened in 1945 ‒ when the Maltese Society of Toronto and the Maltese
Legion of Detroit gathered at St Paul’s Hall in Toronto to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Victory.
A similar event was attempted in 1981, but it never materialised.
Brock said his idea for the newsletter was also shaped by publications from the Maltese-Australian community, including Frank L. Scicluna’s The Journal of the Maltese Diaspora and The Voice of the Maltese by Joseph Cutajar and Lawrence Dimech.
He sees the newsletter not just as a way to share updates, but also as a tool for cultural preservation.
Its aim, he said, is “to assist the Maltese living in North America in learning more about their family’s past” through articles by academics and contacts for community leaders and contributors from across the diaspora.
Between 1946 and 1996, nearly 20,000 Maltese people migrated to Canada, with the highest numbers arriving in the early 1950s. Over the same period, around 11,500 moved to the United States. However, by the 1980s, the number of new arrivals had dwindled, and many existing communities gradually assimilated into Canadian and American society.
This has made it increasingly difficult to keep Maltese cultural institutions active, and interest among younger generations remains limited.
For now, Brock continues to publish the newsletter each month. But with no confirmed editor waiting in the wings, its long-term future remains uncertain.